Sorry I just realized I never got back to your last questions. The next few days don’t bode too well for that. Perhaps by the end of the week.

Also, per M.E., what is really going to win the up and out is not a bunch of short-termers evangelizing them, but long-term witnesses sharing their lives and work with those around them. It helps to be an insider and you don’t get that for nothing.

Blessings.

Definitely, I agree that the key is relationships. I think both of you are on to some key concepts here in reaching the “up and out.” Christian professionals, instead of “professional Christians,” will almost certainly gain a better hearing.

Here’s another angle… One of the identified “universal elements” of Church Planting Movements is “abundant gospel sowing.” This is usually interpreted as some kind of mass media approach. In Spain, we have seen very little response to the massive literature distributions we have done. Almost always, the response has come as a result of personal relationships, and practical ministry to the needy. What is the place of “abundant gospel sowing” when working with the “up and out”?

I think you nailed it when referring to “professional Christians.” One of my contentions is that the “missionary” community should be continually working with and discipling “regular” Christians who work “regular” jobs among the unreached. Even if they are not affiliated with a sending agency, they have the potential to reach those they come into contact with on a regular basis. But training and mentoring is needed. In one very rich, very closed country there are literally thousands of Christians who work “regular” jobs. While some agencies have begun education, training, etc with these brothers and sisters, we must be diligent to always be on the lookout.

Please humor me with one quick example:
A few months ago I spoke at a church. Afterwards, I received a phone call and subsequently had coffee with a brother who may never go on a “mission” trip or be a “long-term missionary.” But this is what he said, “I travel all over the Muslim world for business. And I’ve been beating my head against a brick wall for several years when trying to witness to them. What can I do to be a more effective witness?” We visited for an hour or two, he took home some resources and now has the tools he needs to more effectively communicate with Muslims. Several times during our discussion, I could see the lights switching on. This is what we need. Many missionaries are already in place, they are just lacking training!

His grace be with you,
From the Middle East

I agree about indifference. I think that was what I meant to, but failed to, communicate in my first paragraph.

As far as a strategy from the margins to the center, I honestly don’t specifically know what it would “look like” in practice or as a particular strategy. It’s something that admittedly is easier to realize and to accept in theory than to put into practice.

I do think, historically, that’s how things were pre-Constantine. Back rooms and catacombs are pretty marginal compared to two blocks of the downtown square.

I also believe there are personnel in Central and East Asia and North Africa who could give us some insight on bringing the gospel to the center from the margins, but I probably shouldn’t elaborate further on an unsecure blog. Perhaps some of their strategies could be adopted and applied in open contexts too?

On a level, could it be as simple as saying that it goes back to relationships? Christians don’t all live, work, and play at the margins. Perhaps then a strategy for reaching the “up and out” involves Christian professionals (as opposed to “professional Christians”) who know their friends, neighbors, and co-workers well enough to know when those crisis moments of receptivity occur.

I’m not sure how coherent any of this is. It’s quite late. I’ll sleep on it and try to follow-up later in the weekend if this is still going.

Good words. Sometimes I think indifference is a bigger barrier to the gospel than hostility, though.

Also, that is interesting what you say about a strategy from the margins to the center. Maybe you could give an example of what you mean by that. In your opinion, what would be a good strategy from the margins to the center?

I had heard the title of Blomberg’s book, but have not yet read it. It sounds interesting.

Blessings.

I don’t think that up and outers are necessarily more hostile to the gospel’s message per se, they really just don’t see the need for it in their own lives. At least in the West. I’d be curious to know if that’s also the case in the East and global South.

I do think that it is prudent and good stewardship to plan strategies for reaching the up and out, just not at the expense of reaching those who are historically more responsive. Tim Keller has written and spoken often about the importance of major cities to reaching a nation. And typically, wealthy and influential people drive and influence the social, moral, and spiritual climate of the city. So we must keep working on strategies to reach them.

But we must be realistic in our strategies for reaching the “up and out”. We do not any longer (except perhaps in the southeastern United States) have the luxury of a population who sees the church at the “center” of the culture. We must realize that whatever strategy we devise for reaching the “up and out” will be a strategy FROM the margins TO the center, and not vice versa as in generations past.

As to your original questions 6 and 5, David…yes it’s relevant because the US is headed to where Western Europe is now. Look at the religious commitments of the wealthiest people outside of the South.

Finally, this discussion has called to mind a book by Craig Blomberg, “Neither Poverty nor Wealth: A Biblical Theology of Possessions”. I’m not sure it exactly addresses the questions being discussed here, but worth your time nonetheless.

Thank you very much for your comments. It is because of things like you say here that I have stayed in Spain for the last 18 years. And, I very much respect and support the efforts of those who are laboring in the Muslim world, many times with very little visible fruit for their labors.

At the same time, I still (I believe out of a desire to be more faithful in my stewardship before the Lord) like to ask the hard questions about why we get the returns we get for our efforts. I wonder, for instance, if there is an inherent difference in working among “hard-to-reach” Muslims, who are “hard-to-reach” because of their cultural and religious background, and among Western Europeans, who are “hard-to-reach” because of their relative prosperity (in addition to their cultural and religious background). It is interesting to me, for instance, that in places like Bangladesh, which is both very poor, and very Muslim, we are seeing a significant harvest.

By the way, I very much appreciated what you had to say back a couple of months ago on Bart Barber’s blog related to “The Camel Method.” I left you a comment there, but after most everyone had left that conversation. It is the last comment at:

http://praisegodbarebones.blogspot.com/2008/01/perplexing-review-of-camel.html

I am super busy right now. Getting ready to take a team out next week. But I did want to weigh in on an aspect of this. You said:

If we have to choose, in our allocation of resources, between the more responsive and less responsive, good stewardship would lead us to choose the more responsive. And, usually the poor are more responsive than the rich. But, there are also other factors. I believe we should also give higher priority to the comparatively unreached. And, sometimes, people groups are more unreached because they are less responsive. Or, at least, they haven’t responded to the types of methods we have tried so far. – end quote

I just wanted to affirm this statement. We have no reason whatsoever to focus more resources on areas that are more responsive. If anything, we should be able to focus less resources as indigenous leaders emerge and the local church becomes autonomous and healthy. When looking at movements of God in people groups we get really excited over the exponential growth of churches (CPM), but sometimes forget that there is typically a MINIMUM of 25 years of intense labor (without much fruit) prior to those exponential numbers.

Samuel Zwemer (1867-1952) is considered by many to be the “father of modern missions to Muslims” and the “Apostle to Islam.” Some record that he saw no converts in his lifetime, others say “probably less than a dozen during his nearly forty years of service” and his “greatest contribution to missions was that of stirring Christians to the need for evangelism Muslims.” Yet we learned much from his ministry and there is no doubt that he is just as much a part of the current movements going on in the Muslim world as those that God used directly in these movements. His role was just different. Our culture tends to measure success by numbers. God measures success by obedience. And He has called us (the Church) to proclaim the coming of the King to ALL peoples…

His Kingdom come,
From the Middle East

PS – My apologies for jumping all over the place with this comment.